You can change or stop voluntary federal income-tax withholding from your Social Security benefit in three ways: manage the request in your my Social Security account, call the Social Security Administration (SSA) at 1-800-772-1213, or submit a new, signed IRS Form W-4V to SSA. Form W-4V allows withholding of 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22%; checking line 7 stops withholding. The election stays in effect until you change it, stop it, or your payments stop. Stopping withholding does not necessarily mean you will owe no federal tax, because the taxable portion of benefits depends on your filing status and combined income.
What you are changing
Federal tax withholding from Social Security is a voluntary election. It is not the same as a tax determination by SSA or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You are telling the agency that pays your benefit to send a chosen percentage of each payment to the federal government before the balance reaches you.
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You can leave the election in place, select a different permitted percentage, or stop it altogether. A change affects future payments after SSA processes the request; it does not retroactively alter withholding already sent to the government. The election remains active until you submit another change, stop it, or your Social Security payments end.
This guide concerns federal income-tax withholding from Social Security benefits. It does not change the taxability of your benefits, determine your final tax bill, or address any separate state-tax process.
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Your three ways to change or stop withholding
| Method | How it works | Account access | Paperwork and signature | Record of request |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| my Social Security | Sign in to your account and use the voluntary tax withholding controls to check, start, change, or stop your request rate. | Requires a personal my Social Security account or creating one. | No paper form is required for the online request. | Keep any confirmation shown by the service and note the date and rate you selected. |
| Telephone | Call SSA and tell a representative the percentage you want withheld or that you want withholding stopped. | No online account is required. | The request is handled by the representative rather than by a form you complete. | Write down the call date, the representative’s instructions, and the requested rate. |
| Form W-4V | Complete a new form, choose a rate on line 6 or the stop option on line 7, sign and date it, and give it to SSA, the payer. | No my Social Security account is required. | A completed, signed and dated Form W-4V is required. | Keep a copy of the signed form and the date you delivered it. |
SSA does not publish one universal processing-time guarantee for any of these methods. Before relying on a particular monthly payment, ask SSA when it expects your election to appear and check a subsequent payment or benefit statement.
Change withholding online in my Social Security
The online route is useful when you want to submit the request yourself and avoid mailing a form. SSA describes the service as allowing beneficiaries to check, start, change, or stop their voluntary tax-withholding request rate.
- Open my Social Security. Sign in to your personal account. If you do not have one, use the service’s account-creation process.
- Find the voluntary tax-withholding controls. Look for the section that manages your Voluntary Tax Withholding (VTW) request rate.
- Review the current election. Confirm whether withholding is currently active and what percentage is displayed before replacing it.
- Select the new action. Choose one of the permitted percentages—7%, 10%, 12%, or 22%—or select the option to stop withholding.
- Submit the request. Follow the on-screen confirmation steps. Save or print any confirmation the account provides, and record the date and election you submitted.
- Check a later payment. Because SSA does not promise a single processing interval, verify the result on a later benefit statement or payment rather than assuming the next payment will reflect it.
If you cannot access the account, do not create a second conflicting request while waiting. Use the telephone or Form W-4V route instead, and tell SSA that you already attempted an online change so the representative can explain the status.
Change or stop withholding by phone
Call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use TTY 1-800-325-0778. Tell the representative that you want to change your voluntary federal tax-withholding rate or stop withholding.
- Have your identifying information available so SSA can locate your record.
- State the exact action: start withholding, change it to 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22%, or stop it.
- Repeat the percentage or stop instruction back to the representative to catch misunderstandings.
- Ask when the change is expected to be reflected in a payment. SSA has not published a universal date by which every request reaches a particular monthly payment.
- Record the call date and any reference or follow-up instructions the representative gives you.
Phone service avoids the need for an online account and a mailed form. It also lets you ask about the status of an existing request, which can be useful when a payment has not yet changed.
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Use IRS Form W-4V to change or stop withholding
Form W-4V is the federal form for requesting voluntary withholding from certain government payments, including Social Security benefits. The IRS form is submitted to the payer—for Social Security benefits, SSA—not to the IRS.
Complete the identifying information
Enter the identifying details requested on the current Form W-4V. Use information that matches your Social Security record so SSA can connect the election to the correct benefit.
Select a withholding percentage
On line 6, select one permitted rate: 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22%. These are the available percentages on Form W-4V; you cannot write in an intermediate rate on that form.
Stop withholding
If you want no federal income tax withheld from future Social Security payments, complete the stop-withholding choice on line 7. The IRS states on Form W-4V that stopping withholding requires completing a new Form W-4V.
Sign, date and deliver it to SSA
Sign and date the form. Give the completed form to SSA, the payer, using the delivery instructions associated with your benefit. Do not send the election to the IRS; the IRS form tells you to provide it to the payer.
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Keep your own copy
Retain a complete copy of the signed form and note when you delivered it. If the withholding shown on a later statement does not match your election, the copy gives you the exact rate and date to discuss with SSA.
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The percentage is applied to each Social Security payment subject to the election. For example, a 10% election directs 10% of the payment to federal withholding and leaves the remainder payable to you. The percentage is not a calculation of your eventual tax rate; it is simply the amount sent in during the year.
| Form W-4V choice | Effect on each payment | When it may fit |
|---|---|---|
| 7% | Withholds 7% of the benefit payment. | For someone who wants a smaller amount withheld while retaining the convenience of automatic remittance. |
| 10% | Withholds 10% of the benefit payment. | For a moderate withholding election. |
| 12% | Withholds 12% of the benefit payment. | For a larger withholding election than 7% or 10%. |
| 22% | Withholds 22% of the benefit payment. | For someone who wants the largest available Form W-4V percentage withheld. |
| Stop on line 7 | No voluntary federal withholding under this election. | For someone who deliberately chooses to receive the full scheduled benefit and handle any tax due separately. |
The table describes the election options, not a recommendation. The appropriate choice depends on your expected taxable income, filing status and other payments, none of which can be determined from the withholding percentage alone.
Stopping withholding does not erase tax liability
Whether Social Security benefits are taxable is separate from whether you ask SSA to withhold money. SSA says that up to 85% of Social Security benefits may be taxable when combined income exceeds $25,000 for an individual return or $32,000 for a joint return.
For this test, combined income includes:
- Adjusted gross income;
- Tax-exempt interest; and
- One-half of your annual Social Security benefits.
“Up to 85% taxable” means as much as 85% of the benefit can be included in taxable income under the applicable rules; it does not mean the government withholds or taxes 85% at an 85% rate. Your final federal tax depends on the rest of your income, deductions, filing status and the tax calculation on your return.
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Before stopping or reducing withholding, estimate your combined income for the year and compare it with the threshold for your filing status. If the estimate suggests that some benefits will be taxable, stopping withholding may leave you with less paid in during the year even though the tax remains due when you file. If your estimate changes, you can submit another election using my Social Security, the telephone route or a new Form W-4V.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose between changing and stopping
Choose a percentage when you want automatic payments toward a possible tax bill
Selecting 7%, 10%, 12% or 22% keeps the withholding process attached to each Social Security payment. This can help you avoid having to set aside the money yourself, but the selected percentage may be more or less than your eventual federal tax attributable to benefits.
Choose stop when you have a specific reason and a replacement plan
Stopping is an administrative choice, not a finding that your benefits are tax-free. It may make sense when your income estimate shows no need for withholding or when you have another deliberate way to account for any federal tax. Recheck the estimate if wages, pensions, investment income or other taxable income changes.
Change the election instead of cancelling it when your estimate is only slightly off
If the current rate appears too high or too low, moving to another permitted percentage preserves automatic withholding while adjusting the amount. Form W-4V does not offer a custom rate, so the available choices are limited to the four listed percentages.
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There is no authoritative, universal processing-time guarantee that ties a request to a particular monthly payment. The date can depend on when SSA receives and processes the online, telephone or paper election and when the payment is prepared.
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Use this verification sequence:
- Keep evidence of the request: an online confirmation, your call notes or a copy of the signed W-4V.
- Ask SSA when it expects the change to take effect.
- Review the next available benefit statement or payment details for the withholding line.
- If the old rate continues beyond the timeframe SSA gave you, contact SSA and provide the date, method and requested percentage.
- Do not assume a missing change means the request was rejected; ask SSA to check its status.
Until the new election is processed, the existing withholding instruction can continue to govern payments. Conversely, once the stop or new rate is processed, it remains in force until you change it again or payments stop.
Common mistakes and how to correct them
Sending Form W-4V to the IRS
Form W-4V is an IRS form, but the completed election goes to the payer. For Social Security benefits, that payer is SSA. If you sent it to the wrong place, submit it to SSA and ask when the corrected delivery is expected to be recorded.
Writing in a percentage that is not offered
The form permits only 7%, 10%, 12% or 22%. A handwritten rate such as 5% or 15% does not match the listed choices. Select one of the four rates or use line 7 to stop withholding.
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Forgetting the signature or date
An unsigned or undated form does not provide the complete election requested by the form. Review those fields before delivery and keep a copy.
Assuming a stop request changes past withholding
A new election governs future processing after SSA receives and handles it. It does not reverse amounts already withheld from earlier payments.
Confusing withholding with the tax calculation
Withholding is a payment made during the year. The taxability rules, including the combined-income thresholds, determine how much of your benefits may be included in taxable income. Changing the election does not change those rules.
Expecting a guaranteed effective payment
SSA has not published one processing deadline that applies to every request. Ask for an expected timing and verify a later statement instead of planning around an assumed date.
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- Confirm that you are changing federal withholding from Social Security, not a separate tax arrangement.
- Estimate combined income using adjusted gross income, tax-exempt interest and one-half of annual Social Security benefits.
- Compare the estimate with the $25,000 individual or $32,000 joint threshold described by SSA.
- Decide whether you want 7%, 10%, 12%, 22% or no voluntary withholding.
- Choose the channel that fits your situation: my Social Security, 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), or a signed Form W-4V.
- If using the form, select the rate on line 6 or stop on line 7, then sign and date it.
- Send Form W-4V to SSA, the payer, rather than to the IRS.
- Keep a confirmation, call record or copy of the form.
- Ask SSA when the change should appear and verify a later benefit statement.
Official references
SSA’s 2025 guidance says beneficiaries can sign in to or create a personal my Social Security account to check, start, change or stop their Voluntary Tax Withholding request rate. SSA’s 2025 taxability explanation describes the combined-income thresholds and the possibility that up to 85% of benefits may be taxable. IRS Form W-4V (Rev. February 2018) lists the four permitted percentages and instructs people who want to stop withholding to complete a new form and give it to the payer.
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